Berlin has not yet been saved!
So says the website for Laster- und Hängerburg, a “truck and trailer palace” in the district of Friedrichshain which has been home to around thirty residents since 2001.
Even for pseudo-bohemian Friedrichshain L&H is a conspicuous incongruity: something which could reasonably exist on the periphery, not smack in the middle of a city centre.
The site dwellers claim they are self-sufficient: paying for electricity, water, rubbish collection etc. The only thing they don’t pay for is the land.
During our visit to L&H we spoke to one of the residents, Ellen, who told us the “government in Friedrichshain would not kick us out because they would lose support.”
Whilst the dwellers have indeed been granted authority to live on the land by the local government, they remain caught in an ongoing dispute with developers, who want to build a sports recreation centre on the site.
They are optimistic, however, believing that with the support of the government and their neighbours, “it can still be all right.”
Laster- und Hängerburg
